Celebrations!

Hello, dear Reader!

To say that this week was busy would be an understatement. Erik and I both received phone calls on Monday to interview for big-time positions on Wednesday morning. Again, we did our happy dance on the walnut-laminate floors of our new apartment. We’re on the first level, so no biggie. Although we received call backs, we continued to churn out the ol’ cover letter and resume to several companies’ recent job postings. 🙂 Wednesday FINALLY came. I had my interview first in the morning for a middle school teaching position. By the way, I’ve never professionally taught middle schoolers–only tutored the little rugrats. However, the interview went almost better than perfect. I quickly connected to the principal and two English teachers present at the interview, and, after exiting, I knew that there was something special left there in that heavenly air-conditioned conference room. I returned home to pick up Erik for a quick Torchy’s Tacos lunch. This time around, I had the Baja Shrimp taco and Erik ate an Ahi Tuna Steak taco; we also ordered a side of housemade salsa and chips. Again, Torchy’s Tacos wins! Then, it was Erik’s turn to don the grown-up suit and tie for his interview with a locally-stationed, national audio-visual company. The weirdest thing about this interview? The company found Erik for it.

Here’s the background: Erik physically walked into several audio-visual companies to drop off his resume with the intention of landing maybe a freelance job or two. However, when Erik went into this particular enterprise, the receptionist told Erik that their particular company did not do freelance work but instead installed permanent audio-visual setups (including Bank of America stadium!). Erik, being resourceful, frankly said, “Well, this resume would probably do better on someone’s desk here than inside my oven of a car.” The receptionist cracked a friendly smile and told him that he’d pass it along to his manager. Miraculously, the manager saw the resume and booted it to the corporate office in Oklahoma City. The HR person at the headquarters then emailed Erik to offer him a job that wasn’t even posted! Fate, right?! Erik interviewed with them Wednesday afternoon; the interview lasted about an hour an a half and went “pretty good,” according to Erik. Although we are still waiting to hear word, we are very hopeful.

Now, let’s get to Thursday morning, I received a call from the principal of the middle school I interviewed at. As soon as I heard those Texan-filled words, “Well, Ms. Donham, I’m calling to offer you a job,” I nearly fainted. I released a soft yet firm, “Well, Mr. —–, I’m gonna have to accept that job offer!” My heart was just racing! I’ve got a job, and, now, Erik and I can breathe a little more freely and save ourselves from the stress of not being financially doomed! 🙂 Celebrate good times, my friends! C’mon!

To rejoice, Erik and I had been craving one of our favorites, sushi, so we found a relatively close, inexpensive ($$) joint off Stassney called Umi. We were both so excited about going out to dinner that we got there at the tail-end of happy hour! I ordered a Lychee martini ($5!) and Erik (of course) got a Sapporo. Good deal! For dinner, I had a Spider Roll and shared a Tuna Avocado Roll with Erik. Erik ate one of those dinner combo sushi platter things with nigiri and a spicy tuna roll. Everything was super delicious and really hit the spot! For dessert (ha!), we shared a pineapple-infused cold sake–the large carife. Sooo good! 😉

Needless to say, I am one happy, blessed gal! No pictures of the Umi bonanza–apologies–but will be uploading some after the weekend. Last night, we had a great night with some awesome neighbors from New York who made us homemade pizzas! After starting the night off with champagne, eating and drinking our way through some tasty foods and beverages, we sauntered back to our apartment rather late, feeling incredibly satisfied. We are meeting some pretty amazing people here!

Tonight, Erik and I are planning to find a sports bar in town to watch our Carolina Panthers play the NY Giants. Hopefully, we’ll spot Armanti running the field! Go Apps!

Keep positive. Keep strong. Things will happen.

Oh, and this guy:

Weird-o!